Is the value of school education for pre-schoolers over hyped?

Question

I have read about 30 statistics and some research about teaching kids early Alphabeth, and Numbers. Most serious long term studies conclude, that there is no corrolation later in life for a persons success to early learning or not. Playing classical music has not shown any long term results ether. Do you have some own experience?

Answer 1

One of the main functions of preschool is to prepare children to learn. This is done through all of the small, intangible lessons - learning to play with others, compromise, respect boundaries, follow non-verbal social cues, begin to sit quietly & listen to the instructor & lots of other non-testable lessons. Sure, letter & number recognition will be important, but many children are just not developmentally ready for those items yet & it doesn't mean that they won't be as they gain a couple more years. In many European countries reading isn't taught until the kids are 7 years old & they manage just fine by college. Children learn through play & experimentation and in many different styles (some kids are hands-on, some through music, some visual, etc), not recitation & memorization and that is one of the main functions of preschool. In addition, it begins the separation process for both the parent & child. All of these experiences are what prepare a child to succeed in school & life and are often overlooked in our rush to have the best & brightest and perform on standardized tests.

Answer 2

I think parental support and good food, lots of love and attention, and lots of playing and learning of all kinds is best.

Then if the kids get read to and have the example of parents who enjoy reading, they will learn to read at 3 or 4 or 5.

Make sure they have love and fun mostly before 5, and that they feel are are safe.

Answer 3

I think preschool is valuable only because its gives your child a head start before starting Kindergarten. My son is 3 and he will be starting preschool this fall but I also taught him things myself before he started school. Some things I think kids should already know before starting school. Their full name, home phone number, their parents first names, alphabets and at least can count to 10. It may not make children smarter end the long run but it helps children to get accustom to a school environment. Its beneficial trust me.

Answer 4

I 'm not sure what it did for my children academically, but they really bloomed socially in nursery school and kindergarten. As for myself, it preserved what little sanity I had left getting them out of the house for a few hours a week.